New Bedford Half Marathon numbers down after tough winter

NEW BEDFORD — Even if winter relaxes its grip on SouthCoast in the coming week, the harsh season has already taken a toll on the New Bedford Half Marathon, set for one week from today.

Race organizer Dan McCarthy told The Standard-Times that adding an extra week to the registration helped to crack the 3,000-runner mark.“We were hoping for a late push,” he said; online registration will remain open until Fri­day.

The rough winter took its toll on run­ners, especially recreational runners, McCarthy said. Snow and ice on the streets has often made running danger­ous.

“It’s definitely going to restrict the field a little bit,” McCarthy said.“Recre­ational runners have not gotten out to put in the long miles.”

Still, he said, “It could have been a lot worse. There are not going to be as much as last year, but we’ve had five consecutive years of growth and a really, really bad winter. We’ll probably be in line with our average. We’re happy about that but we never want to take a setback.”

As of late last week, the long-range weather forecast called for a chilly March 16, with clouds and a high barely into the 40s. Frustratingly, it called for a 15-degree warm-up the following day, St. Patrick’s Day.

McCarthy said that because it has been so cold, a warm-up isn’t necessar­ily what runners want.

“Ideally the temperature would be in the high 30s or low 40s. If it gets up to 55 or 60 it’s almost too warm.The body hasn’t acclimated. The cold isn’t bad if it’s dry.”

The 37th annual Half Marathon is shaping up as exciting as anything that’s come before, with many runners com­peting for charities with the encourage­ment of the race sponsors, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.

fibers that wick moisture away from the body.

If any are left over, he said,“we’ll work with Gifts to Give.They have a thrift store on Saturdays.”

The shirts are not made in the USA, McCarthy said, though he hopes that next year’s will be. That will depend on the bids that come in. “We want to bring back the made in Massachusetts theme.”

Many runners are in the field rais­ing money for charity. Team Owen, with 200 runners, is fund-raising on behalf of a city police detective’s son who was born with spinal muscular atrophy.

McCarthy said that the team has raised $75,000 in the marathon in recent years.

The race is also going green. The race website announces that “We have joined with Athletes for a Fit Planet and signed the ‘Pledge of Sustainability’ for our 37th Annual New Bedford Half Marathon.”The site links to a checklist of practices that the organization would like to see and which have been checked off by the Half Marathon, with an emphasis on recycling.

On Saturday, the day before the race, Southcoast Health System and the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick are sponsoring a children’s event in the Custom House Square Park. There will be hula hoop contests, exercise stations, face painting, dancing and more.

The event begins at 10 a.m.; pre­registration is $10, $15 on the day of the event. Runners can pick up their numbers at theYMCA following the event at noon. Event details are on the race website.

Room reservations at area hotels and bed and breakfast establish­ments were still available in some, but not all, by the middle of last week.

There were still rooms available at New Bedford Inn & Suites at 500 Hathaway Road, Seaport Inn & Marina in Fairhaven, the Hampton Inn in Westport, and Residence Inn by Marriott on Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth.

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